


Distraction

by Beth Harker (Beth_Harker)



Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: Angst, Established Relationship, Fluff, Innuendo, M/M, Making Out, squip related brain issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:22:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28346076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beth_Harker/pseuds/Beth%20Harker
Summary: Since the Squip, it’s hard for Jeremy to concentrate on video games.
Relationships: Jeremy Heere/Michael Mell
Comments: 3
Kudos: 60





	Distraction

One of Jeremy’s approximately eight hundred New Year’s resolutions is to be a better boyfriend to Michael, by engaging more with Michael’s interests. It’s like, technically Michael’s interests and Jeremy’s interests are one and the same, except that Jeremy has been getting really into theatre lately, and that’s not Michael’s thing. Also, he hasn’t been doing great on the whole video game front, which is his fault for not trying hard enough. 

So Jeremy texts Michael the day after Jenna’s New Year’s Eve party and asks if he can come over to play Apocalypse of the Damned. 

“yeah!!!!!!!!!!!” Michael texts back. Exclamation points abound, clearing symbolizing how Michael wants Jeremy to get his head out of his ass and play like they used to. 

Michael’s already got the Nintendo set up when Jeremy arrives at his place. Getting the game to run isn’t as easy. Michael has to take the cartridge out and blow on it about seven times, while Jeremy sits watching on a nearby beanbag. 

“We could... um... try something on the Switch?” Jeremy suggests. He has no idea where it is, only that Chloe’d bought it for Michael, and according to Rich it was all part of a passive aggressive attempt to punish Brooke for something she’d done or failed to do. Jeremy doesn’t know the specifics, but it’s at least as convoluted as anything else to do with Chloe and Brooke. 

Michael makes a face, perhaps thinking the same thing as Jeremy. “Can’t use it. It’s cursed. Besides, getting the game to work is like a game in itself.” He turns the console upside down, giving it a gentle shake. He blows into the console, then blows into the cartridge, before putting it back in with a click. This time, the game starts up. Michael cheers. “You see?” he asks, tossing Jeremy the player two controller. “I’m already winning. I’m a master at this.” 

Jeremy wishes he could be set to rights as easily, and he almost says so, but then the implications of that sentiment dawn on him, heating up his face and his stomach. He shifts on the beanbag and keeps his mouth shut. It’s all lost on Michael, who’s immediately drawn into the game. 

Jeremy tries to be drawn in too. Last time he’d tried playing with Michael, he’d fallen asleep, not because he hadn’t wanted to play, but because being around Michael brought down his usual panic levels by ten degrees and without the adrenaline they gave him he’d just been tired. The time before that, he’d got distracted by the Squip trying to pressure him to turn off the game and get Michael to turn on an episode of Star Trek: Enterprise, because it apparently didn’t agree with Jeremy and Michael’s decision to stop their rewatch halfway through. The time before that, Jeremy had gotten distracted by absolutely nothing at all, and the time before _that_...

“Jeremy?” 

Jeremy has dreams about falling sometimes. According to Michael, everybody does. That jump at the bottom, like your body is hitting the ground, serves some kinda evolutionary purpose. Michael touches Jeremy’s shoulder. Jeremy flinches and throws the controller at the computer. 

“Holy shit,” Jeremy mutters. He takes a deep breath. “I...”

“Drifted off?” Michael rubs his shoulder. 

Jeremy nods. 

“It’s cool,” Michael reassures him. “That’s why I give you the player two controller.” 

(On second thought, that’s not very reassuring. Jeremy wants to be Michael’s partner in things, not trailing behind him.)

Michael snatches Jeremy’s controller off the ground, hands it back to him, and hits unpause. The game blurs out after a few seconds. Jeremy tries to stay focused on it, but it’s giving him a headache. Jeremy finds his eyes drawn, instead, to Michael’s hands flying across the controller. Maybe if Michael were touching him, Jeremy would be able to pay attention. He usually can when there’s some kind of physical component. He doesn’t drift off when he’s acting, but video games aren’t the same, and the screen is making Jeremy go cross-eyed, so what Jeremy needs to do is come up with something that is a video game but not a video game, and not too modern because Michael doesn’t like new things.

“Laser tag,” Jeremy’s Squip supplies, from the corner of the room. 

Fuck that noise, Jeremy thinks. What he says out loud is “laser tag” in a tone of voice that has twice as many exclamation points as Micheal’s text message had. 

Again, Michael pauses the game. 

“You want to play laser tag?” Michael asks, clearly perplexed, but not sounding as if he would necessarily be against the idea. 

Jeremy shakes his head. 

“What do you want to do?” Michael’s voice is careful. 

Jeremy thinks back to Michael coaxing the game console to work, to his hands on the controller. 

“I wanna make out,” Jeremy blurts out. 

Michael starts laughing. “So that’s what you’ve been thinking of this whole time. No wonder you were out of it.” 

He turns away from Jeremy long enough to unplug the console so it doesn’t overheat. When he turns back, he takes the controller out of Jeremy’s hand. Jeremy hadn't even realized he was still holding it. Michael leans into Jeremy, hands on Jeremy’s sides. Jeremy hasn’t taken his eyes off the controller. 

“Are you okay?” Michael asks. 

Jeremy licks his lips. “Yeah. Just. Uh.”

Michael’s waiting for him. 

“I want to take the lead, if you’re alright with that.” Jeremy’s voice doesn’t sound very leaderly. It goes up at the end, like he’s asking a question. Michael nods even so. 

By the end of the visit, Jeremy and Michael still haven’t played much Apocalypse of the Damned. Jeremy is pretty sure that Michael had a good time anyway.


End file.
